Totally out-of-sorts Bayern were left with plenty to ponder after a numbing 5-2 home defeat to perennial title rivals Werder Bremen on Saturday.
A 69,000 full house at the Allianz Arena watched in mounting horror as the champions faded catastrophically after a bright start. Markus Rosenberg and Naldo handed the compact and efficient visitors a two-goal lead at half-time, but the real damage was done during a horror show in the 15 minutes around the hour mark.
Mesut Özil, ex-FCB man Claudio Pizarro and a second from Rosenberg put the visitors five goals clear, and although Tim Borowski netted a late brace against his former club, there was no disguising the champions’ utter lack of conviction on the day.
The heavy defeat put an end to Munich’s proud record of never having lost at home on the first day of the Oktoberfest, with 15 wins and nine draws from 24 matches up until Saturday, and means the champions slip to fifth in the standings on eight points from five matches.
Start for Poldi
Coach Jürgen Klinsmann made one enforced change to the side which beat Steaua Bucharest in midweek. With Miro Klose unable to shake off the after-effects of a dead leg, Lukas Podolski took over as Luca Toni’s strike partner as Bayern once again lined up in a 3-5-2 formation.
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